Tube expander with positioning structure

ABSTRACT

A tube expander with positioning structure includes a base, a tube clamp, a positioning device, and an adjusting thread rod. Therein, the base has a body and a neck. The body has a guiding groove and the neck is inserted with a rotating thread rod capable of vertically moving. An expanding cone facing the guiding groove is on one end of the rotating thread rod. The tube clamp having tube bores is slidingly disposed in the guiding groove. The positioning device is on one side of the guiding groove, thereby engaging and positioning the tube clamp and positioning the tube bores under the expanding cone. The adjusting thread rod is pivotally disposed on the body for fastening the tube clamp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to tube expanders, and more particularly,to a tube expander provided with a positioning structure.

2. Description of the Related Art

When a tube is to be connected to extend or to be installed in a curvedsection, a tube expander is utilized in a tube expanding process. Inmost tube expanders, a tube member is usually clamped and fastened by aclamp, and the clamp is placed in a guiding groove of the tube expander,while a cone head of the tube expander is in alignment with the tubemember, whereby a handle of the tube expander is rotated for driving thecone head to expand the end part of the tube member, thus expanding thetube orifice of the tube member into a cone shape for facilitating thetube connecting operation.

However, the above mentioned tube expander is not provided with anypositioning structures for positioning the clamp. Although an adjustingthread rod is provided to position the clamp in the guiding groove, thecone head is usually off-centered and kept from accurately being alignedwith the orifice of the tube member. Under the circumstance, if the userstill uses the cone head to expand the orifice of the tube member, thetube member tends to be damaged easily. As a result, known tube expanderrequires additional man power and time cost for accurately aiming thecone head at the orifice of the tube member for preventing such damagefrom happening, thus failing to meet the demand of being convenientlyoperated.

Therefore, an expander with positioning device capable of positioningthe clamp in the guiding groove is needed to be developed in theindustry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For improving aforementioned disadvantages, the present inventiondiscloses an expander with positioning structure, which is provided witha positioning structure for positioning a tube clamp seat in a guidinggroove of the base, whereby different tube bores are allowed to bepositioned under the expanding cone, respectively.

For achieving such objective, the present invention provides an expanderwith positioning structure, comprising:

a base, provided with a body and a neck connected to the top end of thebody, wherein the body has a guiding groove, and the neck has a rotatingthread rod capable of moving upward and downward, while one end of therotating thread rod is provided with an expanding cone facing theguiding groove;

a tube clamp, slidingly disposed in the guiding groove and provided withplural tube bores, with one side of the tube clamp provided with pluralpositioning recesses corresponding to each of the tube bores;

a positioning device, disposed on one lateral wall of the body and onone side of the guiding groove, wherein the positioning device pushesthe positioning recesses, thereby engaging the tube clamp andpositioning each of the tube bores under the expanding cone,respectively; and

an adjusting thread rod, pivotally disposed on the body and on the otherside of the tube clamp for fastening the tube clamp.

With such configuration, the present invention is provided with apositioning device for engaging different sections of the tube clamp inthe guiding recess and thus positioning each of the tube bores under theexpanding cone, respectively. When a tube member is clamped in one ofthe tube bores of the tube clamp, the tube bore clamping the tube memberis allowed to be rapidly and accurately moved and positioned under theexpanding cone, whereby the expanding cone is in alignment with theorifice of the tube member, preventing the tube member from beingdamaged by the expanding operation afterward. Therefore, man power andtime cost is saved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tube expander with positioningstructure in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the appearance ofthe tube clamp and the base of the tube expander in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the tube clamp of the tube expander inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded schematic view of illustrating theconfiguration of the tube expander in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the tubeexpander in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another schematic view illustrating the operation of the tubeexpander in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The aforementioned and further advantages and features of the presentinvention will be understood by reference to the description of thepreferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, the present invention provides a tubeexpander 100 with positioning structure, comprising a base 10, a tubeclamp 20, a positioning device 30, and an adjusting thread rod 40.

The base 10 is made of aluminum, provided with a body 11 and connectedto a neck 12 on the top end of the body 11. A guiding groove 13 istransversely disposed on the body 11. A positioning bore 14 is disposedon the wall of the body 11 and at the same time disposed on one side ofthe guiding groove 13, wherein the positioning bore 14 is connected tothe outer face of the body 11 and the guiding groove 13, respectively.An inner thread 15 is disposed on one end of the positioning bore 14connected with the outer face of the body 11 for receiving a nut 16. Arotating thread rod 17 capable of moving upward and downward is insertedthrough the neck 12, while an expanding cone 18 facing the guidinggroove 13 and a hand grip 19 are disposed on two ends of the rotatingthread rod 17, respectively. The hand grip 19 is allowed to be rotatedfor driving the rotating thread rod 17 to move upward and downwardagainst the base 10.

The tube clamp 20 is made of aluminum and slidingly disposed in theguiding groove 13, wherein the tube clamp 20 is formed by a firstportion 21 and a second portion 22 pivotally combined together on oneend of the first and second portions 21, 22 with plural tube bores 23disposed between the first and second portions 21, 22. Pluralpositioning recesses 24, which are in a shape of a column andcorresponding to the tube bores 23, are disposed on one side of thefirst portion 21 away from the second portion 22, whereby centers ofeach of the positioning recesses 24 overlap the centers of the each ofthe tube bores 23, respectively, as showed in FIG. 3. Also, each of thepositioning recesses 24 is internally provided with a positioning member26 made of iron, respectively, and the positioning member 26 has acone-shaped recess 27 which tapers from the periphery toward the centralpoint thereof. Plural fastening recesses 25 corresponding to the tubebores 23 are disposed on one side of the second portion 22 away from thefirst portion 21, whereby centers of each of the fastening recesses 25overlap the centers of each of the tube bores, respectively.Furthermore, the fastening recess 25 tapers from the periphery towardthe central point thereof.

The positioning device 30 is disposed in the positioning bore 14 of thebody 11 of the base 10, wherein the positioning device 30 is providedwith a positioning spring 31 and a positioning rod 32, while thepositioning spring 31 is allowed to push the nut 16 and the positioningrod 32, respectively, whereby the positioning rod 32 penetrates throughthe positioning bore 14 into the guiding groove 13, as shown in FIG. 5.Thus, the positioning rod 32 is able to push the cone-shaped recesses 27of the positioning members 26 on the tube clamp 20, thereby enabling thepoisoning device 30 to engage different sections of the tube clamp 20,respectively, according to the positions of each of the tube bores 23.Therefore, each of the tube bores 23 is positioned under the expandingcone 18.

The adjusting thread rod 40 is pivotally disposed on the body 11 of thebase 10 and on the other side of the tube clamp 20, wherein, one end ofthe adjusting thread rod 40 is allowed to push each of the fasteningrecesses 25 of the tube clamp 20, respectively, for fastening the tubeclamp 20. A sleeve member 41 made of iron is disposed between theadjusting thread rod 40 and the body 11 for preventing the body 11 frombeing worn out, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

With the foregoing configuration, operation of the present inventionwill be illustrated below.

When a tube member 50 is to be processed with expanding operation, thetube clamp 20 is detached from the guiding groove 13, and the tubemember 50 is clamped in an appropriate one of the tube bores 23 of thetube clamp 20 based on the diameter size of the orifice of the tubemember 50. Next, the tube clamp 20 clamping the tube member 50 is placedin the guiding groove 13 of the base 10; meanwhile, the tube clamp 20 isslidingly moved and positioned at an appropriate position in the guidinggroove 13. During the sliding movement of the tube clamp 20 in theguiding groove 13, the positioning rod 32 pushing the positioning member26 of one of the positioning recesses 24 on the tube clamp 20,compresses the positioning spring 31 and thereby enters the positioningbore 14. When the tube clamp 20 slides to another position with anotherpositioning member 26 of another positioning recess 24 being inalignment with the positioning bore 14, the positioning rod 32 isbounced back due to the resilience of the positioning spring 31, whereinthe positioning rod 32 pushes another positioning member 26 of anotherpositioning recess 24, achieving a positioning effect. Therefore, thepositioning device 30 of the present invention is able to engagedifferent sections of the tube clamp 20 according to the positions ofthe tube bores 23, whereby each of the tube bores 23 is allowed to bepositioned under the expanding cone 18, respectively. Furthermore, thepositioning members 26 of the positioning recesses 24 are able toprevent the positions recesses 24 from being damaged.

When the tube bore 23 clamping the tube member 50 is positioned underthe expanding cone 18, as shown in FIG. 5, the tube clamp 20 is fastenedby adjusting the adjusting thread rod 40, whereby the expanding cone 18is accurately in alignment with the orifice of the tube member 50, asshown in FIG. 6. Next, the hand grip 19 is rotated to move the expandingcone 18 toward the tube member 50 for executing the tube expandingoperation. As a result, the orifice of the tube member 50 is expandedinto a cone shape, thereby facilitating the tube combination operationafterward upon the tube member 50.

To sum up, with the tube expander 100 having positioning structureprovided by the present invention, when a tube member 50 needs to beprocessed with tube expanding operation, the tube member 50 is clampedin one of the tube bores 23 on the tube clamp 20 and slidingly moves inthe guiding groove 13 of the tube clamp 20, whereby the tube bores 23clamping the tube member 50 is allowed to be rapidly and accuratelypositioned under the expanding cone 18. Therefore, due to thepositioning device 30 of the present invention, man power and time costare saved. User is allowed to align the expanding cone 18 with theorifice of the tube member 50, thus facilitating the tube expandingoperation and preventing the tube member 50 from being damaged.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described indetail for purposes of illustration, various modifications andenhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except asby the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tube expander with positioning structure,comprising: a base, provided with a body and a neck connected to the topend of the body, wherein the body has a guiding groove, and the neck hasa rotating thread rod capable of moving upward and downward, while oneend of the rotating thread rod is provided with an expanding cone facingthe guiding groove; a tube clamp, slidingly disposed in the guidinggroove and provided with plural tube bores; a positioning device,disposed on one side of the guiding groove, wherein the positioningdevice engages the tube clamp and positions each of the tube bores underthe expanding cone, respectively, and an adjusting thread rod, pivotallydisposed on the body and on the other side of the tube clamp forfastening the tube clamp.
 2. The tube expander of claim 1, wherein thepositioning device is disposed on a lateral wall of the body, and pluralpositioning recesses corresponding to the tube bores are disposed on oneside of the tube clamp, while the positioning device is allowed to pushthe positioning recesses for engaging and positioning different sectionsof the tube clamp.
 3. The tube expander of claim 2, wherein apositioning bore is disposed on the wall of the body with thepositioning device disposed in the positioning bore, and the positioningdevice has a positioning spring and a positioning rod, while thepositioning spring allows the positioning rod to penetrate through thepositioning bore for engaging the positioning rod with the positioningrecesses.
 4. The tube expander of claim 3, wherein the positioning boreis connected to the outer face of the body and the guiding groove,respectively, and an inner thread is disposed on one end of thepositioning bore connected with the outer face of the body for receivinga nut, while the positioning spring pushes the nut and the positioningrod, respectively, for penetrating the positioning rod through thepositioning bore into the guiding groove.
 5. The tube expander of claim2, wherein the tube clamp is formed by a first portion and a secondportion pivotally combined together on one end of the first and secondportions with plural tube bores disposed between the first and secondportions.
 6. The tube expander of claim 5, wherein the positioningrecesses are disposed on one side of the first portion away from thesecond portion.
 7. The tube expander of claim 6, wherein pluralpositioning members are further provided and disposed in each of thepositioning recesses, and each of the positioning member has acone-shaped recess which tapers from the periphery toward the centerpoint of the cone-shaped recess.
 8. The tube expander of claim 7,wherein the positioning device is allowed to push the cone-shaped recessof each of the positioning members, respectively.
 9. The tube expanderof claim 7, wherein each of the positioning recesses is in a shape of acolumn.
 10. The tube expander of claim 7, wherein the positioningmembers are made of iron and the tube clamp is made of aluminum
 11. Thetube expander of claim 5, wherein plural fastening recessescorresponding to the tube bores are disposed on one side of the secondportion away from the first portion, and one end of the adjusting threadrod is allowed to push each of the fastening recesses, respectively, forfastening the tube clamp.
 12. The tube expander of claim 11, whereineach of the fastening recesses tapers from the periphery toward thecenter point of the fastening recess.
 13. The tube expander of claim 1,wherein the other end of the rotating thread rod is provided with a handgrip, while the hand grip is allowed to be rotated and thereby drivingthe rotating thread rod to move upward and downward against the base.14. The tube expander of claim 1, wherein a sleeve member is disposedbetween the adjusting thread rod and the body.
 15. The tube expander ofclaim 14, wherein the sleeve member is made of iron and the base is madeof aluminum.